MIC 251

GRAM POSITIVE
ACTINOMYCETES
C

Lecture 24
V. Jooste, Medical Biosciences, UWC
Learning outcomes
• Identify the general and diseases caused by medically important species in this group

• Organisms focused on
• Actinomycetes
• Nocardia
• Streptomyces
• Mycobacterium

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 Actinomycetes
General properties of Actinomycetes

• Aerobic, Gram positive bacteria.

• Form branching filaments or “hyphae” grow both into and on solid surfaces.

• Form asexual spores.

• Withstand desiccation but not heat.

• Usually non-motile.

• Spores may be motile by flagella.

• Widely distributed in soil.

• Produce most of medically important natural antibiotics.

• Some are pathogenic in humans, other animals, and plants. V. Jooste

Actinomycetes
• Related to Corynebacteria and include multiple genera of clinical significance such Mycobacteria spp.
and saprophytic organisms such as Streptomyces spp.
• Some are causative agents
• Actinomycetoma
• Actinomycosis

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Actinomycetoma
• Mycetoma (Medura foot)
• Localized
• Slowly progressive
• Chronic infection that begins in the subcutaneous tissue and spread to adjacent tissues
• Destructive and often painless
• Actinomycetoma
• Caused by filaments – branching bacteria
• Most common causes are Nocardia spp., Streptomyces somaliensis and Actinomadura madurae
• Often found in soil fungi

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Actinomycosis
• Actinomycosis
• Chronic, suppurative and granulomatous infection that produces pyogenic lesions
• Caused by several closely related members of the normal flora of the mouth and GIT
• Mostly due to
• Actinomyces israelii
• Actinomyces naeslundii

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Nocardia
• Develops substrate mycelia that readily break into rods or coccoid forms.

• Aerial hyphae can develop conidia.

• Most are free- living saprophytes.

• Some are opportunistic pathogens causing nocardiosis.

• Genus seems to be going through extensive reclassification.

• Nocardiosis is caused by Nocardia asteroides complex.

• Also by N. brasiliensis.

• Nocardiosis is initiated by inhalation of bacteria.

• Sub-acute to chronic lung infection that may disseminate to other organs.

• Usually brain and skin. V. Jooste

Streptomyces
• Members of the Streptomyces genus are the source for numerous antibacterial pharmaceutical agents.

• Chloramphenicol
• S. venezuelae
• Daptomycin
• S. roseosporus
• Fosfomycin
• S. fradiae
• Lincomycin
• S. lincolnensis
• Neomycin
• S. fradiae
• Puromycin
• S. alboniger
• Streptomycin
• S. griseus
• Tetracyclin
• S. rimosus and S. aureofaciencs V. Jooste
Mycobacteria
• Aerobic
• Non spore forming
• Grow very slow when cultures
• 2 – 40 days
• Cell walls have high lips content and waxes with 60 – 90 mycolic acids
• Acid fast
• Ziehl Neelsen staining technique
• M. bovis
• Tuberculosis (TB) in cattle and other ruminants
• M. tuberculosis
• Tuberculosis (TB) in humans
• M. leprae
• Leprosy
• M. avium – intracellulare or M. avium complex (MAC)and other atypical mycobacteria frequently infect patient
with AIDS.
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Mycobacterium
Mycobacterium tuberculosis

• Tubercle bacilli are thin, straight rods measuring 0,4µm x 3µm

• Mycobacteria are more resistant to chemical agents then other bacteria

• Mycobacteria cell wall are rich in

• Lipids that include mycolic acids, waxes and phospholipids

• Proteins that elicit tuberculin reaction
• Polysaccharides
• hypersensitivity
• Bacteria in droplets are inhaled and reach the alveoli
• Development of lesions
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Mycobacteria
Mycobacterium avium complex
• Often called the MAC or MAI
• Ubiquitous in environment
• Rarely cause disease in immunocompetent hosts
• In the USA disseminated MAC is one of the most common opportunistic infections of bacterial origin in
AIDS patients

M. kansasii
• Can produce lung and systemic disease indistinguishable from TB
• Especially in immunocompromised patients

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Mycobacterium A
M. scrofulaceum
• Chronic lymphadenitis in children

M. marinum
• Fresh and salt water, unchlorinated swimming pools and
acquarium tanks
B
• Superficial skin lesion

M. ulcerans
• Also found in acquatic environments
• Produces toxin – Mycolactones – Buruli ulcers

C
M. fortuitum
• Superficial and systemic disease in humans

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 Mycobacterium
M. leprae
• Also known as leprosy bacillus or Hansen’s bacillus
• Chronic and curable disease
• Damages peripheral nerves and targets skin, eyes, nose and muscle
• Still not been cultured on non-living bacteriological media
• Involve the coolest parts of the body
• Disfigurement due to skin infiltration and nerve involvement in untreated cases can be extreme

V. Jooste
 MIC 251

END OF LECTURE 24 C

V. Jooste, Medical Biosciences, UWC